Travel Sports

[Anonymous]

Need information about travel sports, particularly baseball. How intense is it? Time consuming? Will every weekend be spent away at games? How beneficial is it in the long run? DS is 10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Need information about travel sports, particularly baseball. How intense is it? Time consuming? Will every weekend be spent away at games? How beneficial is it in the long run? DS is 10.

For baseball:

At 10- not generally that intense IME but teams really do vary. At 10- not that beneficial in the long run IMHO- but the longer you wait the harder it can be to make the transition. However there will always be a team that will take your money- at least through age 13-14 or so.

Schedules vary widely (usually at tryouts the coach will give an indication of what to expect- or ask before accepting a position on the team). Many teams play locally only, others travel a lot. Some play in a travel league, some do tournaments. Very wide variation.

[Anonymous]

The above is good info. If doing little league at the same time is why it can be very time consuming at this age.
And yes, there will always be a team willing to take your money. Some teams are formed with good intentions, but no direction. They show up to tournaments to get crushed and waste everyone’s time.
If your player wants to compete at a higher level, give it a try and see how they like it.

[Anonymous]

If your kid does Little League or the equivalent, the differences in talent /experience can be stark, even for a travel team that mostly stays local, does league play, and maybe a couple of tournaments.

The most time consuming teams are tournament teams that travel to a different tournament every weekend. Home games are very few.

-- 1st and 3rd plays, multiple types of steals (straight, delay, fake bunt), bunt defense, relays, back picks.

-- the pitching is deeper and there aren't really soft spots in the batting lineup.

It looks and feels like real baseball and the kids want to be there.

Having said that, anyone can form a travel team and there are some awful ones that don't have uniform player talent/experience, disorganization, and lots of $$.

[Anonymous]

There is no need to do far away tournaments until high school. They are a complete waste of time and money. Avoid teams that push those on parents. The hours in the car are much better spent practicing at your local field.

[Anonymous]

My kid didn’t start travel baseball until 12u, so maybe my experience isn’t relevant…but from what I can tell talking to his coach and the kids who’ve been with that coach since 10u, they practiced twice a week and did weekly doubleheader games on Sunday. They were/are in the Northern VA Travel Baseball League, which also includes some MD teams.

Some teams do winter workouts, which can include hitting, conditioning, and some indoor field work. One of my kid’s friends was a star on his 10u/11u teams and he skipped winter workouts to no penalty.

The DH games can be time-consuming, especially if your games are a decent drive away. For us at 14u now, they’re at least a 6 hour chunk of our Sundays. Some teams only play one game or some only on Saturdays. We also play Wednesday games- not sure if 10u also generally does? So for my son, he’s at 2 two hour practices, 1 mid-week game, and 1 doubleheader on Sunday. I’m sure there are teams who do much more and teams who do less.

I’d also ask the coach about their batting philosophy. They should be batting the whole lineup at this age, in my opinion, not just the top 9 or 10. Ask how many they intend to roster- too many kids and someone’s riding the bench for too many innings or too few kids and you’ll struggle to field enough players for a game if someone is missing.

My son loves it (doesn’t always love the Friday practices, if I’m being honest)- loves the game, the dugout camaraderie, seeing his name on his jersey. If and when he stops loving it, we’re done, but for now, I love seeing him in his element.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid didn’t start travel baseball until 12u, so maybe my experience isn’t relevant…but from what I can tell talking to his coach and the kids who’ve been with that coach since 10u, they practiced twice a week and did weekly doubleheader games on Sunday. They were/are in the Northern VA Travel Baseball League, which also includes some MD teams.

Some teams do winter workouts, which can include hitting, conditioning, and some indoor field work. One of my kid’s friends was a star on his 10u/11u teams and he skipped winter workouts to no penalty.

The DH games can be time-consuming, especially if your games are a decent drive away. For us at 14u now, they’re at least a 6 hour chunk of our Sundays. Some teams only play one game or some only on Saturdays. We also play Wednesday games- not sure if 10u also generally does? So for my son, he’s at 2 two hour practices, 1 mid-week game, and 1 doubleheader on Sunday. I’m sure there are teams who do much more and teams who do less.

I’d also ask the coach about their batting philosophy. They should be batting the whole lineup at this age, in my opinion, not just the top 9 or 10. Ask how many they intend to roster- too many kids and someone’s riding the bench for too many innings or too few kids and you’ll struggle to field enough players for a game if someone is missing.

My son loves it (doesn’t always love the Friday practices, if I’m being honest)- loves the game, the dugout camaraderie, seeing his name on his jersey. If and when he stops loving it, we’re done, but for now, I love seeing him in his element.

+1

OP I second this in particular. If the coach doesn’t discuss this at the tryout, make sure to ask when the coach calls and offers for your kid to be on his team. Most 10-11U teams will be fairly good about this, but you don’t want any surprises. How many on the roster? Any more than 12 players at this age is a red flag. Do you bat the roster in all games? At age 10-11U the vast majority will do so, but definitely do ask. These are common and normal questions to ask. Also- have him try out for a few teams if possible, and watch the tryout from afar. It can be difficult to be objective about your own kid, but ask yourself how does his skill level match up with the rest of the team/kids trying out? Typically you can get a sense. You want to avoid being among the weakest 2-3 players on a team if at all possible. I say all of this because if he is going to play travel ball at this age- investing the time and effort, he needs to PLAY. Most teams in this age group are great about this, but there are some bad ones out there- control what you can control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid didn’t start travel baseball until 12u, so maybe my experience isn’t relevant…but from what I can tell talking to his coach and the kids who’ve been with that coach since 10u, they practiced twice a week and did weekly doubleheader games on Sunday. They were/are in the Northern VA Travel Baseball League, which also includes some MD teams.

Some teams do winter workouts, which can include hitting, conditioning, and some indoor field work. One of my kid’s friends was a star on his 10u/11u teams and he skipped winter workouts to no penalty.

The DH games can be time-consuming, especially if your games are a decent drive away. For us at 14u now, they’re at least a 6 hour chunk of our Sundays. Some teams only play one game or some only on Saturdays. We also play Wednesday games- not sure if 10u also generally does? So for my son, he’s at 2 two hour practices, 1 mid-week game, and 1 doubleheader on Sunday. I’m sure there are teams who do much more and teams who do less.

I’d also ask the coach about their batting philosophy. They should be batting the whole lineup at this age, in my opinion, not just the top 9 or 10. Ask how many they intend to roster- too many kids and someone’s riding the bench for too many innings or too few kids and you’ll struggle to field enough players for a game if someone is missing.

My son loves it (doesn’t always love the Friday practices, if I’m being honest)- loves the game, the dugout camaraderie, seeing his name on his jersey. If and when he stops loving it, we’re done, but for now, I love seeing him in his element.

This will give you a ton of insight.

At that age (and honestly, up through 14 IMO), the team should bat the whole roster on pool play games, and then maybe the best 9 on Sunday. For league play, everyone should bat.

A general rule of thumb is that they roster the age. So a 12u team should have 12 kids, 13 has 13 and so on. Obviously, 10U will likely want to have 11 or 12. You add more roster spots as they age because the pitching toll becomes greater. If you pitch a pool play game 1, you should be done pitching for the weekend, and your defensive positions should be limited in the subsequent games.

We've seen 13U teams that roster 18-20. Kids will come to a tournament and not even get an at-bat. It's horrible.

You could also ask about when they start to get primary defensive positions. Our 10U team had everyone taking IF and OF. Now, at 14, there's a group of OFers and a group of middle IFers, and a group of corner IFers. There are 1-2 that float in between, but we've seen the growth in both groups by focusing primarily on one defensive position.

I would also ask if there are expectations of hiring private coaches beyond practice. Some teams will suggest pitchers get a private pitching coach. Some will say that hitting is to be done on your own time and not at practice. and some will have those coaches available to you (for an extra price of course). There's nothing inherently wrong with expecting the kid to put work in on their own time. But you should know, as the person that will both foot that bill and have to drive your son to these private lessons.

That said, when you find the right coach, right boys, and right parents (holy cow, having the right parents is important), it can really be a lot of fun!

[Anonymous]

It sounds like a lot of variables have to fall into place for the experience to be worth the commitment - roster size, coach, skill of players, etc. Do you think starting younger 10U is beneficial or is waiting ok too? DS is an athletic kid and excels at a variety of sports…not sure we are ready to commit to baseball 24/7 at this point, but also feel somewhat forced into it if he wants to succeed long-term (all-stars, high school, etc.). Not trying to raise an MLB star by any means, but want a happy kiddo who can do what he loves and have fun doing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like a lot of variables have to fall into place for the experience to be worth the commitment - roster size, coach, skill of players, etc. Do you think starting younger 10U is beneficial or is waiting ok too? DS is an athletic kid and excels at a variety of sports…not sure we are ready to commit to baseball 24/7 at this point, but also feel somewhat forced into it if he wants to succeed long-term (all-stars, high school, etc.). Not trying to raise an MLB star by any means, but want a happy kiddo who can do what he loves and have fun doing it.

He will more than likely start to fall behind (at least in the short term) if he doesn’t move to travel soon. In my kids’ LL, any kid who made the all star team at 12U also played travel. It depends how much that matters to him and to you? However- that is only in the short term. Plenty of kids do still move to travel at 12-13 and progress very quickly (while some of the young “stars” fall behind at that age)- puberty is the giant X factor. A big athletic kid who hits puberty early will have a much easier time moving to travel at older ages…for a small kid who hasn’t hit puberty yet, it is better to be “in” with a travel team earlier as most teams will be looking for big kids. Hate to put it that way, but it is generally what I have seen. Opinions will vary but that has been my experience watching my sons (both teens who play) and the kids in their age group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like a lot of variables have to fall into place for the experience to be worth the commitment - roster size, coach, skill of players, etc. Do you think starting younger 10U is beneficial or is waiting ok too? DS is an athletic kid and excels at a variety of sports…not sure we are ready to commit to baseball 24/7 at this point, but also feel somewhat forced into it if he wants to succeed long-term (all-stars, high school, etc.). Not trying to raise an MLB star by any means, but want a happy kiddo who can do what he loves and have fun doing it.

Don’t worry about the all stars crowd. Little league is plenty of baseball for a 10yo. Starting travel at 13u will not make him behind. Let him play the other sports if he wants to, and don’t worry for a second about all the folks doing little kid travel ball. The hs teams are made up of all kinds of players - ones who played travel and all stars from a young age, ones who focused on baseball later, and multi sport varsity athletes (and kids from all of those groups go on to play in college). He will find a travel team at 13u - not necessary at all to find one before then to guarantee a spot moving forward. There’s not one path. Let him and your family needs lead the way!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like a lot of variables have to fall into place for the experience to be worth the commitment - roster size, coach, skill of players, etc. Do you think starting younger 10U is beneficial or is waiting ok too? DS is an athletic kid and excels at a variety of sports…not sure we are ready to commit to baseball 24/7 at this point, but also feel somewhat forced into it if he wants to succeed long-term (all-stars, high school, etc.). Not trying to raise an MLB star by any means, but want a happy kiddo who can do what he loves and have fun doing it.

Don’t worry about the all stars crowd. Little league is plenty of baseball for a 10yo. Starting travel at 13u will not make him behind. Let him play the other sports if he wants to, and don’t worry for a second about all the folks doing little kid travel ball. The hs teams are made up of all kinds of players - ones who played travel and all stars from a young age, ones who focused on baseball later, and multi sport varsity athletes (and kids from all of those groups go on to play in college). He will find a travel team at 13u - not necessary at all to find one before then to guarantee a spot moving forward. There’s not one path. Let him and your family needs lead the way!

Thank you. This does make me feel reassured. I also have concerns about him using his arm a lot due to pitching at a high level year round rather than one season a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like a lot of variables have to fall into place for the experience to be worth the commitment - roster size, coach, skill of players, etc. Do you think starting younger 10U is beneficial or is waiting ok too? DS is an athletic kid and excels at a variety of sports…not sure we are ready to commit to baseball 24/7 at this point, but also feel somewhat forced into it if he wants to succeed long-term (all-stars, high school, etc.). Not trying to raise an MLB star by any means, but want a happy kiddo who can do what he loves and have fun doing it.

Don’t worry about the all stars crowd. Little league is plenty of baseball for a 10yo. Starting travel at 13u will not make him behind. Let him play the other sports if he wants to, and don’t worry for a second about all the folks doing little kid travel ball. The hs teams are made up of all kinds of players - ones who played travel and all stars from a young age, ones who focused on baseball later, and multi sport varsity athletes (and kids from all of those groups go on to play in college). He will find a travel team at 13u - not necessary at all to find one before then to guarantee a spot moving forward. There’s not one path. Let him and your family needs lead the way!

Thank you. This does make me feel reassured. I also have concerns about him using his arm a lot due to pitching at a high level year round rather than one season a year.

You should go see for yourself. They are not pitching year round, LOL. The kids hit the ball and the defense is much better -- if anything the pitch counts are lower. And arm care is more important than some random Little League Coach running a kid into the ground over a meaningless game. It sounds like your impression of travel at 10U is much more than it actually is.

They go play with the better players and coaches (hopefully better coaches). Our travel team at 10U encourages multiple sports. The Sunday double headers are long time wise, but seem way shorter than a LL game. Go watch some games and practices, don't rely on DCUM.

If you don't want to do it, that is perfectly fine. But it sounds like maybe searching for excuses not to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like a lot of variables have to fall into place for the experience to be worth the commitment - roster size, coach, skill of players, etc. Do you think starting younger 10U is beneficial or is waiting ok too? DS is an athletic kid and excels at a variety of sports…not sure we are ready to commit to baseball 24/7 at this point, but also feel somewhat forced into it if he wants to succeed long-term (all-stars, high school, etc.). Not trying to raise an MLB star by any means, but want a happy kiddo who can do what he loves and have fun doing it.

I would just play LL and then pay for private instruction. None of the play matters much at all until the kids hit puberty, so you want to create muscle memory and good habits.

You will have no problem joining travel teams at 13u.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like a lot of variables have to fall into place for the experience to be worth the commitment - roster size, coach, skill of players, etc. Do you think starting younger 10U is beneficial or is waiting ok too? DS is an athletic kid and excels at a variety of sports…not sure we are ready to commit to baseball 24/7 at this point, but also feel somewhat forced into it if he wants to succeed long-term (all-stars, high school, etc.). Not trying to raise an MLB star by any means, but want a happy kiddo who can do what he loves and have fun doing it.

I would just play LL and then pay for private instruction. None of the play matters much at all until the kids hit puberty, so you want to create muscle memory and good habits.

You will have no problem joining travel teams at 13u.

Sure. Bc there's always a team willing to take your money.

But by 12, if you haven't started, you absolutely will be behind. Around that age, breaking balls really start to break and kids need to learn how to identify the spin, etc. That doesn't happen in rec.

By 13/14 kids can change speeds and locations well. My 14u old struck out last week on 3 pitches. 78 mph fastball. 63 mph change up. 80 mph fastball.

Looking. Foul. Swinging.

If you want to make the jump at 13/14, you won't stand a chance against pitching like that.

You layer in any hopes of playing in HS, and your DS absolutely needs to join a travel team. It sucks. But it is what it is